What Women were Wearing in Paris, April 2016

To the real post:

Well okay, not what everyone was wearing, but what caught my eye…

Belovedest OF COURSE knows what I’m doing when I’m looking at people in Paris, and he’s turned out to be an invaluable partner in spying patterns and noticing the garments that seem to be worn by 10% of the people we see.

First up – grey jeans! We couldn’t tell if these were black jeans that were well faded, or if they were jeans that were grey by design. At any rate, we saw them often, and generally they weren’t skin-tight. We saw virtually nothing cropped, but quite a few jeans were rolled neatly at the ankles, exposing jazzy socks…

And let’s put an old rule to bed for at least a while… For years, we were all given the (very correct) advice that one shouldn’t wear athletic shoes in Paris, because it made you stand out like a sore thumb among the natives.

That’s OVER. We saw TONS of athletic shoes, in every neighborhood, including on the Faubourg Saint-Honore, outside of the Hermes boutique. And these weren’t necessarily really expensive designer “athletic” wear; the single most common-spotted shoes (I’d estimate that we say a pair every 5 minutes, at least) were these green-trimmed Stan Smith style Adidas. It got to be a joke between us to see how often we could find a pair!

Other than these 2 really noticeable trends, I didn’t see anything common among lots of the women. More often than not, what attracted my attention was either an innovative combination of patterns and prints, or just a really tidy, well put-together outfit on a woman with exquisite grooming and perfect posture.

First up, a young-ish woman in a mix of prints and textures. All of the colors were matched, so the 2 floral prints along with the tweed looked very creative, but not at all outlandish or hard to wear.

The beautiful lady was much older than you might expect, given that she’s wearing athletic shoes, but her haircut was perfect, and her smile was warm and confident. It all looked wonderful, and she was walking with long strides, alongside her equally chic husband (or gentleman friend?).

The “real” outfit I saw included a sleeveless top in an all-over print; I couldn’t find one similar. But this comes close enough to convey the fresh, spring-like beauty of her outfit. The longer skirt was fine with the flat shoes…

3 or 4 times, I saw women wearing varieties of purple, all tossed together with reckless pleasure.! And these weren’t eccentric little old ladies with purple hair, either! It can be a look that’s not easy to pull off, but if you truly love a color, who says they have to be “dye-lot matched” to be worn together?

And we saw TONS of New Balance shoes in Paris. Tons. More than Nikes, even…

B spotted this woman – a simple column of grey, amazing moss-green shoes, and a peach scarf. The thing that made it all “hang together” was that the 3 colors were all the same intensity, with the same slightly muted feeling to them. That, and the fact that she wore the outfit as if it was supposed to be that way. Sometimes, attitude is everything!

And lastly, this woman who, at first glance, seemed to wearing brown. Just brown. But when I looked closely, I could see that the colors in the tweed skirt were beautifully mirrored in the patterned scarf. I’m pretty certain that she likes brown quite a bit!

Comments

Hi Janice, this is a great post, lovely to hear what "actual" women are wearing "now" in Paris. I am off to Paris for a long weekend in June for my (special) birthday so any tips would be much appreciated (especially what to wear for birthday evening meal) I love your blog and read it every day when I get from work.

Nothing like an adolescent to inform one about what's "in": according to mine, cool shoes are Stan Smiths, Converse Chuck Taylors, New Balance but only the slim styles (U420 or 574), Nike Air Max… None of these are particularly good for sports, and in fact wearing real sports shoes (New Balance 560, for example) when you aren't doing sports, marks you as either a tourist or "ringard." One thing I've noticed in Carcassonne is men in orange jeans. I'll see several of them in a day. Go figure.

I've been coveting the Stan Smith sneakers for a while, as has my 21-year old daughter, but they're just not comfortable on my feet. I think it's a sizing issue, as they're made in boys/men's sizes and it just doesn't translate for me. The new, New Balance and Under Armour brightly colored, slim style lightweight sneakers are everywhere here in New England, including Marshall's and TJ Maxx :~).

I've been coveting the Stan Smith sneakers for a while, as has my 21-year old daughter, but they're just not comfortable on my feet. I think it's a sizing issue, as they're made in boys/men's sizes and it just doesn't translate for me. The new, New Balance and Under Armour brightly colored, slim style lightweight sneakers are everywhere here in New England, including Marshall's and TJ Maxx :~).

We considered that, but I don't think this is the case. We saw too many athletic shoes on people who were clearly not marathoners, or even runners. I honestly think it's a trend, or a style shift.hugs,Janice

Thank you, Janice, for this post. I love hearing and seeing what women are wearing in France, but often "street style" blogs focus on young, very thin women who are dressed a bit "out there." What you've shown here are very wearable and would be attractive on women of any age.

I was in the UK and SW France the week before last. I, too, saw tons of the adidas white shoes. they are even on the accessories rack at Zara and H&M. They are here for the season. I also saw tights and booties. mostly black tights but not all, and both brown and black booties. with pants, with skinny pants, with flowy dresses, with short skirts, with long skirts, and with short shorts (not on any body over 25!). Those were the 2 trends I saw most, and I was looking! tights and booties. white shoes.

Janice, Of these sightings, the ones that caught my eye were 3, 4, 9, and 11. The tan jacket, shoes and white linen pants — very chic ! The lady all in black , #4, quite elegant in a casual way ! The soft gray, peach and olive — my personal soft coloring, and of course, the all brown ensemble floats my boat as I am a "brownie " ! Thanks for the fun !

French woman always seem to be effortlessly stylish – as you mentioned above 'attitude is everything'.And the outfits you just showed us also appear easily put together.

But athletic shoes! It must by my age or upbringing but I find it so disappointing to see them everywhere. After foot surgery I found myself wearing them more often – the right pair is comfortable and offers great support for a long day of walking on uneven surfaces. But even then I wore a black pair with black pants in an attempt to make them less obvious.

Love the wool LL Bean coat – I'm heading to Ireland in the fall and the west coast can be very chilly and breezy. I'm going to take another look at that coat.

Merci! All of these outfits are wearable on a day to day basis. I'm really enjoying grey jeans right now. I might get a second pair to put away for travel. Peach and soft green are great accessories for spring. People watching and window shopping in Paris…who could ask for anything more?

We were in Paris last fall…early October. Tennis shoes were everywhere and brighter colors than I see here in Dallas, but the Stan Smith's really were the thing! On all ages of women from teens to 70's. It was a reL surprise.

Thank you for giving us the low down on what women in Paris are wearing, so many looks to replicate. It is so much better to see the combos minus the young, skinny blonde wearing them. I can visualize how they would work on this vintage model!! Many items here to consider, the green suede loafers, the white linen pants and tan top etc etc.Deb from Vancouver

Just don't wear them with athletic clothes, and don't be afraid to wear them with a skirt or dress. Mostly, I saw them worn with jeans, but they give off a very appealing gamine vibe when worn with dresses!hugs,Janice

I'll show some if I can find them, but I really struggle to find good photographs of fun socks. But think bright stripes, for the most part, or bright solid colors. Nothing outlandish – no ladybugs or cartoon characters – but just bright and cheery!hugs,Janice

What a pleasure to see Paris street fashion through your eyes, Janice. It's especially pleasant to see so many versions of practical shoes in attractive outfits. Most fashion reporters (if I may call you that) focus solely on high-end and high-heels.

One of my favorite posts ever! THANK you for recognizing the presence of athletic shoes on Parisian women! I spent time in Paris last summer, and athletic shoes were worn by many women of all ages in all neighborhoods – and these were Parisian women and not tourists. I thought they looked great! It was also a huge relief because I try to dress nicely to fit in, but need to wear athletic shoes a fair percentage of the time because of foot problems. Would you ever consider doing a post that starts out with athletic shoes & then builds a chic city outfit?

I second (or third or forth!) the general acceptance of athletic shoes as fashionable attire. I also have bad feet and even though I am almost 70, I still want to look as stylish as I possibly can. I love the look of a knee length skirt with athletic shoes or Keds style shoes. I'm glad that they come in so many different colors. I also would love to see a post that starts with athletic shoes as well. Thanks for all your hard work and all of your wonderful ideas, this is my most favorite blog of all time.Mary Baker

How fun! Do you take actual notes when you see an outfit or just mental ones? Either way, I love that you have presented such a variety of attractive and wearable outfits. Thank you for taking the time to source the components of the different looks. My favorite is the first one (although the dress is a tad young for me), but there are others (the all-navy is striking) that I could see myself in, and still others (the brown) that I would definitely admire on someone else. – nancyo

Enjoyed reading this post so much! I felt like I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe people watching with you while you analyzed their look.Sometimes I admit, my grown daughter and I, waiting through the long and unhurried French idea of dinner, would make up stories about the people sitting around us. When you took time to look, they all had "character" all we had to add was drama.

Lots of lovely ideas to consider here. I agree with the others, it's so much more fun to imagine them on real Parisian women, than to see them sported by skinny young models. Coincidently I had 'grey jeans' down as a possible purchase for spring, and these slides have convinced me!Alice

Yes New balance are really trendy right now in France, but not the style you show. French women are still not willing to wear running shoes to wlak around, but they like the retro look of the New Balance 573 or 440.

Love this post! Always interesting to see what people are wearing! I have seen more and more white tennis shoes here in America too. Just when I convinced my husband he could not wear them any more! LOL!

This is one of my favorite posts – EVERYTHING appealed to me. The shades of brown ensemble was truly genius.And I guess I have been way ahead of the athletic-shoes-with-everything trend for quite a number of years now! 🙂

Thanks for this fashion report from the place where styles start. I'm so thankful that cropped pants are disappearing and the look is achieved with a rolled hem. It's painful to buy fashion trends that will be passé next year. Comfy shoes, hip, hip, hooray. Tasteful comfort in all of these items. New colours and wearable fabrics for variety, wonderful.

As North Americans, I don't know why the writers sell us a wardrobe style that is false. Three years ago when we were travelling around Europe, the travel writers swore that no one should wear jeans. Jeans were EVERYWHERE, on all shapes and sizes. Old or new, they were always tastefully worn, that je ne sais quoi.

Appreciate it due to this vogue document by the place where models start out. Now i am and so fortunate of which cropped shorts usually are disappearing along with the glimpse is usually realized that has a rolled hem sprained ankle. It truly is hurtful to obtain vogue movements which is to be pass future season. Relaxing shoes and boots, trendy, trendy, hooray. Delightful tasting ease with these types of objects. Completely new coloring in addition to wearable material intended for wide variety, superb.

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